Oblivion
by Empress Empoleon
Summary: It's inevitable. / Ginny, Harry, and realizing that everyone's going to die someday and the best they can do is love while they can. .:For Anna:.


_For Anna. I tried to make this as beautiful as your writing, but I'm sorry to say that it isn't nearly as good. I hope you still love it though!_

* * *

It's like a ghost town.

Ginny trudges through the ruins, picking out where the walls used to stand, where a classroom used to be, where the portrait shortcut from Potions to Charms used to hang.

Everything's in ruins. The common room, which used to be so lively, is completely destroyed. Paint is peeling off, and shards of glass, wood, and clay cover the floor, so it's almost impossible to walk without hurting yourself.

(Everyone's walking on a thin line of shattered glass, and it hurts so much.)

* * *

Harry sits at the edge of the cliff, hanging over the Black Lake. The cliff wasn't there before, but the land had fell down into the forest below during the battle, so now there is a new precipice.

He thinks it's a nice addition to the scenery. Hanging so close to the edge is what he has done all his life, after all. He's practically an expert at dangling from the drops, and managing to hang on.

(But then he thinks about all the others who had let go for him, and he wonders what it would be like to take the plunge.)

* * *

Ginny realizes, as she sits on the ground with Harry and the rest of her family, that war brings out the best in some and the worst in others.

She sees her mother mourn the loss of one of her sons, her older brother scream about the cruelty of losing his twin. It shouldn't have happened; Ginny would turn back time if she could. (Wouldn't they all?)

But then she watches Ron and Hermione hug and cry, Fleur tend to Bill's wounds, and everyone slowly pick up the pieces, and knows that oblivion is inevitable.

* * *

Everyday is the same nowadays. Ginny wakes up, has a tense breakfast with everyone, and then helps to rebuild Hogwarts.

Hogwarts isn't what it used to be, and neither are they. If they're not crying, they're working. Nobody talks, ever - it's like they don't even know they have mouths.

Ginny takes the silence as time to think. Oblivion is definitely inevitable...and she feels as if everyone has found this out already.

The question is why no one is bothered by it. She sees people holding on to each other, slowly daring to smile, and wonders how anyone could possibly be happy after all that's gone wrong, after knowing that they're all going to die one day.

It takes a while for her to understand, but as Ginny puts the pieces of herself and Hogwarts together, she finds the answer.

They're all going to die one day, but if they're in love, they'll feel like they're immortal.

* * *

Love is what's holding everything together, she realizes. Love is healing everyone, slowly and surely.

It may be a long time from now, but maybe one day she'll be able to move on.

* * *

It's another while later, when the last pieces are finally coming together, when Hogwarts really looks like a castle again and George doesn't cry for days at a time, that Ginny wonders why _she_ hasn't begun to heal yet.

George and her mother have pulled it together; her father and Percy have patched things up; Fleur and Bill tend to their hidden scars and put on brave faces together; and Ron and Hermione hold hands and steal secret glances at each other during dinner.

Ginny is the only one alone, it seems. Even George is spending more time with Angelina these days.

She remembers one person though, that has been drifting away ever since the war ended.

* * *

She finds him at the cliff, hugging his knees and staring off at the horizon.

"Harry, what are you doing here?" she asks.

"Just...thinking," he replies, after a moment of hesitation.

"About what?" Ginny takes a step closer. "You don't have a lot to say anymore."

Harry takes a deep breath in, his shoulders hunching up. His shirt is tight around his back, and Ginny realizes that her old affection for him had never really gone away.

"Can I..." she begins, finding it odd that she was hesitating. She never hesitates. "Can I sit with you?"

Harry glances up at her, and holds her gaze. Ginny hears her heart pounding in her ears, and wonders how she survived a war when she can't even stand in front of Harry Potter.

He pats the ground next to him, and she sits, swinging her legs over the edge.

"Why have you been distancing yourself?" she asks. "You don't spend time with us anymore. We're all worried."

Harry doesn't look at her. "Yeah. Sorry."

"You didn't answer my question," she points out.

He still doesn't look at her. "I just had a lot of things to think about."

"We all do," she quickly replies. "Tell me."

He still wouldn't look at her, and Ginny feels as is he is trying to avoid her. "It's none of your business, Ginny. Can you please leave now?"

His comment stings. Ginny knows he only talks like that when he's upset.

"No. You can't bottle yourself up," she says.

"Like I said, it's none of your business!" Harry exclaims. Ginny hears a hint of nervousness in his voice. _Is he...scared?_

"No!" Ginny protests. "Stop hiding from me, Harry!"

Harry quiets down, finally looking at her. His gaze softens until there's nothing left and his jade eyes transform into a dead shade of gray. Then he turns away, looking away from her, as if he can't stand to keep his eyes on her anymore.

Ginny thinks she can read him now.

"Harry..." She lays a hand on his shoulder, and he tenses. "It's over."

His head snaps up to meet hers, and suddenly, he's yelling at her. "Those people...they all died because of me, Ginny! My mother and father, Sirius, Lupin, Tonks, Fred...they all were killed because of me."

His outburst is short lived and all too soon he sinks back into his hollow shell that he's been cowering in ever since May. Ginny figures that he's probably been thinking that for a long time now.

She has to convince him that he's wrong.

"Harry, they didn't die because of you," she says. "They died for the cause that we were all fighting for."

"But it's still my fault. If I had been quicker, smarter-"

"Harry," she says. "They died _for_ you, and I think you're wasting the life they've given you if you're just going to mope around and mourn for them all day."

Harry stares at her with wide eyes. "Ginny..."

"And I think they were all pretty happy with how their lives turned out," she continues.

"It was too early for them to die. They could have lived longer-"

"Harry!" Her voice comes out harsher than she intends. "Don't beat yourself up for something that isn't your fault."

"But it _is _my fault, Ginny! Don't you see-"

"We're all going to die someday, Harry Potter!" she screams, her voice echoing off the chasm walls and bouncing back into them. "Oblivion is inevitable, and you know it! So don't blame yourself for something that was going to come anyways."

She's only a teenager, yet she's seen far too much of this cold, dark world.

Harry's blinking rapidly, and she knows he's trying not to cry. (It's in vulnerable moments like this where Ginny remembers why she fell in love with him in the first place.)

"If death is inevitable," he asks, "how do people stay happy?"

Ginny sighs, looking straight into his jade eyes. She leans closer until their noses are almost touching, until his hot breath splays across her face and she can count the freckles on his red cheeks, and whispers,

"Love."

Their lips meet and Ginny thinks that if she died right there and then, it would be a happy death.

* * *

A/N: I hope the ending isn't too awkward, but overall, I'm happy with how this turned out!

_Done for:_

_Hugs and Happiness Challenge - Anna!_

_Create-A-Potion Challenge_

_Canon Pairings Competition_

_Pairing Diversity Boot Camp: Prompt #43 - Indemnification._

_Legendary Gods/Goddesses Competition_

_Hogwarts Classes Competition - Transfiguration_

_HP Potions Competition - Antidote to Uncommon Poisons_


End file.
